Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Because you don’t trust me?”
“No,” Sam told him. “I trust you, but I also need to know that you respect the rules of the house. What’s my motto?”
“Trust, but verify.”
“That’s right.”
“So you trust me to be in my room and not try anything with anyone, but you also want the door open so you can walk by and see that everything is as it should be.”
“Exactly.”
“And would it be the same for Hannah, or would you be more worried because she’s a girl?”
“No one is taking advantage of Hannah,” I told my son, because honestly, with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, any guy that tried was an idiot. “But yes, it’s the same for her. We have an open-door policy in this house that goes along with no one that we haven’t met before is in this house when we’re not here. Period.”
“I know,” Kola said with a sigh. “And neither me nor Hannah would ever do that.”
“No, we wouldn’t,” she affirmed with a smile and a quick nod.
“Stop sucking up,” I ordered her.
“Me?”
I shot her a look.
“So,” Sam began, his gaze steady on his son. “What do you feel like you should do?”
Kola bit his bottom lip, as he’d been doing since he was a little boy, before he met his father’s gaze. “I think I want to go over there and talk to her fa—stepfather.”
“You keep correcting yourself,” I pointed out. “Did she make a big deal out of that? Him being her stepfather and not her father?”
“Yeah. I guess her folks just got divorced last year, and right before school started, her mom married Mr. Crosby. Ashley had to move from Seattle to here, and now she won’t see her dad until Christmas vacation.”
“That sucks,” Hannah said, sounding sad.
“Yeah.”
“So she had to leave her school, all her friends, and her dad?”
He nodded.
“I’m so sorry,” I said gently. “That must be hard for everyone involved, but especially for Ashley. Poor kid.”
“She’s really miserable.”
“Why couldn’t she have lived with her dad?”
“Her dad’s a policeman, and so because of his job, he couldn’t have custody.”
I squinted at him.
“Yeah, see, I didn’t get that either,” he said, looking at me. “I mean, if you and Dad got divorced, and you wanted to move across the country with some new guy, I don’t see how I would have to move with you. I would be able to live with Dad.”
“Yes, you would,” Sam said, leaning sideways and kissing the side of my neck. “And no one’s getting divorced. Ever.”
It had to be one of his least favorite words, along with neutral, vegan, and unregulated.
“Yes, dear,” I soothed him, my hand lifting to his cheek. “No divorce.”
“Okay,” Sam announced, putting the dog on Hannah’s lap before standing up. “Let’s go to Ashley’s house and talk to her folks.”
Kola took a breath. “I think I want Pa and Hannah to come too.”
“Why?” Hannah asked, surprised.
“Because I feel like I want her stepfather to know how serious I am.”
I had to ask. “Buddy, do you like this girl?”
“Well, yeah, she’s nice. But that kiss was off—like she was putting on some weird act in front of him.”
I wondered how close she was to upping the ante in bad-girl behavior to get her shipped back to her father. “Okay, then,” I said cheerfully. “Let’s just wait for your father to change clothes and his gun.”
Sam had to carry at all times, it was part of the job, but the difference between his ankle holster and his shoulder one helped with the comfort level of most people. Nine times out of ten, no one knew he had a firearm within easy reach.
It was just two streets down and across a small park, and as we walked, the kids in front of us, I asked what everyone had decided to be for Halloween.
“Me, Harper, and Jake are gonna be musketeers,” Kola told me. “And Uncle Aaron is having the costumes made for us with real swords,” he finished excitedly.
“Oh, that’s so great,” Sam lied, squeezing my hand that he was holding.
“I’ll call him,” I said under my breath.
“I’m going to be Princess Mononoke,” Hannah announced happily. “And Uncle Aaron is having my costume made too!”
Side-eye from Sam. “As soon as I get home,” I promised, even though I knew that if the kids were telling me about it now, Aaron Sutter had started people working on feature-film-level costumes at least a month ago and they were probably already done.
It was interesting when we knocked, because the Crosbys looked nothing like I was expecting. For starters, Mr. Crosby, who looked confused as he opened the door, couldn’t have been more than thirty-five. Ashley’s mother was maybe forty (forty-two she told me later), and very pregnant. Ashley herself looked just like a mini version of her mother, with the same short honey-brown curls, deep dimples, Cupid’s bow mouth, and big blue eyes.